


nights like these

by chwepen



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Bachelorette Party, Engagement, F/M, Fluff, Humor, a fellow writer said this was hangover + seventeen, that was my plan all along ;)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 01:57:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16714351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chwepen/pseuds/chwepen
Summary: The day after your bachelorette party, you pick up the clues to figure out where you were last night and, most importantly, where your engagement ring went.





	nights like these

“So, tell me again why my groomsmen are coming to your bachelorette party and I can’t?” Hansol gently massaged the soles of your feet in preparation for your walk on the town, tickling the curve of your pinky toe in efforts to make you giggle. Of course, he succeeded.

“Well, husband-to-be, since my bridesmaids can’t fly in until two days before the wedding, and we didn’t wanna spend our rehearsal dinner hungover, I thought I could steal your friends who are also my friends.” You grinned, your neck propped up against the coach cushions. The news Seulgi, Rose, and Irene couldn’t attend your bachelorette party stung, but the idea of spending the night with the boys didn’t sound so bad. You always had fun with them, no matter what shenanigans you walked into. “The reason you can’t is because, and I steal this quote from Mingyu, ‘you both need to have some fun before leaving Singletown forever’.”

“I thought that’s what Mingyu said before we left for my bachelor party,” Hansol responded, smiling at your impression of your mutual troublemaker.

“Exactly! And I let you have your fun with the boys two nights ago. But trust me, babe, it’s just gonna be a bunch of margaritas and bad karaoke. You’d be bored out of your mind.” You scooted to the end of the couch where Hansol was, the hem of your long-sleeved dress bunching at the thighs. Taking his face into your hands, one hand gleaming with a seventeen carat diamond ring, you kissed his lips softly. “Also, I can’t wait to leave Singletown with you.”

The last three months of wedding planning could have been a mountain of stress, but yours and Hansol’s excitement for the final day refused to turn you into an anxiety-ridden bride. From the night of the engagement party, you were lit up with happiness tenfold. Every seating choice and cake tasting was a thrill, knowing the two of you would be married at the end of the road.

“Ditto,” he whispered, leaning in for another kiss that you happily gave. His arms snaked around your waist, and you wondered why you were leaving him at all tonight to go out for a few hours. Staying with him, the two of you in your own world, was better than any strawberry daiquiri you ever tasted.

A knock on the door pulled the two of you apart, a sign it was time to go. “Babe, just promise you’ll avoid dancing too close to Josh. He might step on your foot by accident while drinking and doing that dumb windmill dance,” Hansol said, helping you stand up from the couch. “And just take it easy, okay?”

“Babe, it’s one bachelorette party. What could go wrong?”

* * *

Waking up the next morning to a cat’s paw pressed against your cheek, you knew more than a few things could go wrong.

You recognized Mingyu and Wonwoo’s apartment immediately: the grey color scheme, the leather appliances, a giant flat-screen in the living room, and Mingyu’s rainbow lamp he’s owned since college sitting in the corner. The only disarray pieces were all of you sleeping on the floor and the grey Siamese cat cuddled against you.

Rising from the floor, you looked around the room for hints about where you were the night before while the cat trotted into the kitchen. Only when you stroked your left hand through your hair did you realize something far worse was missing from the puzzle: your engagement ring.

“What?!” Your scream was so loud, all the boys popped their heads up from their sleeping positions to confront whatever noise woke them up. Joshua looked up at you, clearly still tired, and you gasped at his new hair color, a horrific shade of lime green.

“Josh! Your hair!”

Joshua searched around his spot on the floor for his phone. Once he saw the color in his phone’s camera, he scrambled into a standing position. “What the hell happened to my hair,” he screamed.

By the time the other boys woke up, more mysteries came into question.

“Where’s my phone? Why’s my tongue purple,” Soonyoung mumbled, rubbing his fingers over his tongue in a vain attempt to swipe the pigment away.

“Wonwoo! You have a tattoo!” Mingyu laughed at Wonwoo, shirtless on the couch with a clearly red tattoo of a microphone on his chest.

“So do you,” Wonwoo yelled, pointing down at Mingyu’s forearm. A similar design to Wonwoo’s was drawn on Mingyu’s skin. The two boys screamed in unison. “We got matching tattoos?!”

You looked down at your skin for anything new. Rolling up your sleeves, you found a bandaged tattoo of a sixteenth-quarter music note on your wrist. “What the fuck did we do last night?!”

By the time you all sat down to recuperate from your morning revelations, you were a sobbing mess over your missing engagement ring. “It’s missing, it’s missing, my ring  _cannot_ be missing!” You fiddled with the free space on your left hand, hoping by some magic your ring would appear on your finger again. “Does anyone remember  _something_ after we went to that club? And why the hell is there a cat here with us?”

“I think the better question is what the hell did we drink last night?” Wonwoo groaned, still examining the new ink on his right peck. Joshua was still speechless in the corner, staring and touching the ends of his hair.

“Bachelorette Banger!”

“What,” you shouted, your mind in a daze from searching the area for your engagement ring before your group huddle, only to come up empty.

“That was the drink we got! The bartender made it for us, you know, to celebrate. That’s all I can think of.” Soonyoung scratched his head while he spoke.

“Okay, well maybe if we go there first, they can explain the tattoos and…everything else, or at least point us in that direction. And maybe tell me if they’ve seen my ring. Han’s gonna be so upset,” you cried, tears threatening to spill over again.

“Hey! No!” Mingyu shook you until you looked straight up at him. “No crying for the bride! It was my job for you to have a great time last night. And yeah, we all might be completely oblivious to what actually happened, but we’re gonna sort this all out. Groomsmen pinky promise.” The two of you adjoined your pinkies, halfway certain the answers were within your reach.

* * *

Jewels, the most popular nightclub in town, was vacant at ten in the morning when the five of you stepped inside. The faint beat of a pop song could be heard in the backroom, a few bartenders cleaning up the bar. One of them looked up from the counter and smiled widely. “Wifey! Good to see you again!”

“‘Wifey’? I’m sorry, is that me,” you asked the man behind the bar, all the boys just as confused as you were.

“Sorry, miss. You asked us to call you that after you drank a couple of Jihoon’s specialty for your group.” All at once, a memory flooded your mind:

_“I’m getting married to the best guy ever! I’ll be someone’s wife soon,” you laughed, downing the rest of your fourth mixed drink, Wonwoo and Joshua in equal fits of laughter. The drink had the perfect blend of strawberries and liquor you couldn’t name. All you knew was that it tasted better than anything else you intended to have that night. Mingyu and Soonyoung were on the dance floor trying to start a dance battle with the other clubgoers to no success. “Oh my god! You should call me Wifey, sir! It’s the best nickname!”_

You pouted in embarrassment, knowing the only one who kept your drunken fits in check was Hansol, who didn’t know half of last night’s escapades.

“I think it was called the Bachelorette Blaster,” the bartender continued.

“I knew it,” Soonyoung yelled, grinning from ear to ear. You saw the hint of purple on his tongue when he stuck it out at you.

“Ah, you had Jeonghan’s pancakes, didn’t you?” The bartender shook his head, a smirk on his lips.

“Whose pancakes,” you asked while Soonyoung tried to place the name, his eyebrows quirking up.

“Jeonghan’s! My friend runs a new 24-hour breakfast joint downtown, and he’s making these multicolored pancakes now, but everyone’s been raving about the ‘Purple Pancake Challenge’ he came up with!”

“You’re saying the reason my friend’s tongue is purple is because of pancakes?” Trying in vain to not laugh, you bit your bottom lip.

“He puts a specific dye in them, but don’t tell him I told you that. Oh, excuse me! I forgot to give you my name.” The bartender reached his hand out to shake yours. “I’m Seungkwan. Is there anything I can help you with?” His smile was so inviting, you hoped he could help you uncover the other missing parts of your night.

“Well, after those drinks, we kind of spaced out. We barely remember where we went last night, and I’m missing my engagement ring and my friend, Purple Pancake guy,” you pointed to Soonyoung, “is missing his phone, and we just really need your help.”

“Hmm, I don’t remember you guys having any special plans, but I do remember one of you mentioning karaoke. The karaoke bar across the street was still open when you left!” Seungkwan snapped his finger at the realization. “As for your ring and your friend’s phone, nothing was found. I’m sorry, miss.”

“Thank you, Seungkwan.” You smiled sadly, wondering if his recalling of the night was only the beginning of more bad news.

“Maybe the next place will give us more information,” Joshua reassured you, placing a comforting pat on your shoulder.

“On to the karaoke bar,” Mingyu shouted, grabbing your hand and leading you out of Jewels.

* * *

The owner of Seokmin’s Karaoke Bar sat on a wooden stool outside of the building, making cat noises you knew spelled out trouble. However, the moment he saw your group, he almost looked relieved. “There you are! One of you rocked the house last night, and another one of you left something behind! I would’ve closed up, but I knew you’d come back for it.”

“Was it a ring?!” You almost jumped up at the thought.

“Ah no, miss, I would’ve remembered it being a ring.” The guy laughed out loud as your shoulders sagged. He rifled through his pockets and jacket until he took out Soonyoung’s phone. “Here it is!”

“Oh, my baby!” Soonyoung cradled the phone appreciatively.

“Genius, maybe open it up so we can see if there’s any evidence on it,” Wonwoo huffed, crossing his arms but wincing as they pressed into his chest.

“Wait, why didn’t we do that before? Guys, check your phones for anything!”

You all scrolled through various pictures and videos from the night before, most of them blurry or out of focus. One featured you in the cage at Jewels, a feather boa wrapped around your neck. Another was of Soonyoung and Mingyu standing in front of a tattoo parlor with wide smiles. “ _Cheol’s Ink_? Does anyone know where that is?”

“It’s a few blocks away. I think we passed it on the drive here,” Mingyu responded, still rifling through the photos. “Well, we were definitely at Jeonghan’s last night.”

The five of you closed in around Mingyu’s screen. The photos showed Soonyoung in various poses, munching on purple pancakes and one video of who you all assumed was Jeonghan declaring Soonyoung the winner of the food challenge. The following dance Soonyoung did was in a separate video. “Well, at least I was a winner last night,” he joked.

“Not just you, Soon…” Wonwoo scrolled to the right to a video of Joshua breakdancing in the middle of the karaoke bar, the patrons cheering him on to the beat of the music. “Good work, Josh.”

Josh grinned to himself. “So much for you all saying I’m a bad dancer.”

“Did you guys happen to see my cat before you left? Bubble always rummages in the garbage at night, but I haven’t found him since then.” Seokmin fiddled with his thumbs as he waited for your answer.

In a flash, another memory crashed into the front of your brain:

_“Josh! Look at him. He’s so cute, and so fluffy. Maybe I can give him to Hansol as a present.” You nuzzled your face into the cat’s fur, the animal welcoming your touches with purrs. The cat rubbed against you on your way out of the karaoke bar. Although your voice was hoarse from all the singing, you sang softly, “I’m keeping you forever.”_

_“Let’s take him! We can call him Fluffykins,” Joshua smiled, his eyes a bit lazy from all the alcohol, and you two skipped away with the cat in your arms._

You gulped, hoping the poor guy wouldn’t yell at you all for your irresponsibility. “Yes sir, we have seen your cat. We took him home with us, but we’ll bring him back as soon as possible.” You put your hands up in an apologetic gesture. “Last night was completely hazy for all of us.”

“Ah, well, if you could just bring him back before tonight’s customers come in, that would be great.” Seokmin smiled and headed back inside, and the five of you figured out your next steps.

“So, we started at Jewels,” Wonwoo said, “then moved to Seokmin’s, and some time after that, we headed to the tattoo parlor and the pancake place.”

“All we’ve figured out is Mr. Pancake Eater’s tongue and phone debacle. We still don’t know why Josh’s hair is green, why we got tattoos, and where the hell my ring is,” you sighed. “I just hope it’s not gone forever.”

“Hush. We’ll find your ring and everything will be okay,” Soonyoung gave you a tight hug, squeezing the air out of you. “Now, I’ll drive to Mingyu’s and bring the cat back here. You guys head to Cheol’s. I’ll meet you at the pancake place.”

With a game-plan, you all set out on the second half of your hangover-induced journey, Soonyoung taking the car and the rest of you walking to the next mystery location.

* * *

Choi Seungcheol apparently worked day and night, the tattoo parlor being the most lively spot you had encountered. The abundant buzzing of the machines and people laying across the mats proved the guy knew how to give a good tattoo. More than a few marked his skin, one entire sleeve of them on his right arm. The bell above the door dinged when the the four of you entered. Without looking up from his sketchpad, Seungcheol said, “Welcome to Cheol’s Ink! How can I help you?”

“Hello. Um, I think me and my bachelorette party came in last night for tattoos. I have one here,” you held up your wrist when Seungcheol looked up,” and I believe my friends got matching ones.”

“Ah, I remember you.” Seungcheol pointed his finger at you.” You were my first freebie tattoo. I mean, you were just so cute, I couldn’t say no.” He grinned widely.

_“My boyfriend—excuse me, my fiancé—loves music. And I love him, so so so much. And he always writes lyrics and I know if I got this tattoo he’d just love it. I think it’d be a great surprise.” You swirled the sketch of the music note around so you could see it. A few tears leaked onto the paper. “He’s the greatest person ever, and just showing him how much I can’t wait to be married to him would mean the world to me.” You wiped your tears sloppily with your hands, but Wonwoo did it for you with a napkin._

_“Hey! No crying bachelorettes,” Wonwoo yelled, but his eyes were also watering up, as were the other guys’. “Have you ever seen love like that, sir? I can’t wait to get married,” He sobbed._

“Your other friends payed one-fifty total for theirs.” Seungcheol shows you the picture hanging on his wall of the five of you. The clearest detail was your left hand without a diamond ring. “And you paid thirty for the hairdo,” he pointed to Joshua.

“You do hair coloring here,” Joshua asked.

“No, but my buddy Hao does in the backroom.”

“You’re telling me it cost only thirty to turn my friend’s hair into a lime, but I got matching tattoos of microphones with this guy for a hundred and fifty?” Mingyu pointed to Wonwoo and then himself.

“Hey, you wanted it shaded in. That costs extra, bud.”

“Did you by chance see a ring around here, sir,” you asked him.

“Actually, you weren’t wearing one when you came in or when I tattooed you.”

“How? I mean, I didn’t take it off the whole night.” You tried wracking your brain for the possibilities. “Was there anything distinct about us before we came in?”

“All I remember was one boy had a purple tongue. You guys also brought a cat in with you, and you offered to pay twenty to give him a ‘cat tat’. Sadly, I’m not that skilled.”

Before you could respond, your phone rang. Hansol’s contact photo lit up your screen, and before you could turn your phone off, Mingyu pressed the green button and pushed the phone to your ear. His hand movements signaled you had to stall, but you felt sick trying to act like nothing was wrong.

“Hey, baby,” you said into your phone, hoping your voice could prove you were fine.

“Hey! I haven’t heard from you all day!” You could tell he was smiling as he said it, and somehow you felt worse.

“I’m sorry. We’ve just been cleaning Mingyu’s apartment. It was a mess when we came back last night. I promise I’ll be home soon.” You swallowed the lump in your throat as you looked down at your ringless hand. “I love you so much.”

Hansol’s responding laugh made your heart ache even more. “I love you too, babe. See you soon.”

After ending the call and thanking Seungcheol for his information, the four of you grouped up. “So, we went to two bars, went downtown to eat pancakes, then got tattoos. Somewhere at Jeonghan’s should be where your ring is, Wifey.” Mingyu winked.

“I hope so.” You frowned. “All I know is nothing can be worse than this.” You touched your ring finger for the thirtieth time, praying Jeonghan’s was the final missing piece.

* * *

Jeonghan’s breakfast restaurant smelled of bacon and eggs, even if it was two in the afternoon. Jeonghan was serving a corner table before he greeted you all, an apron around his waist and a his hair tied up in an eloquent manbun. When he noticed Soonyoung, who met with you guys outside before walking in together, he clapped his hands together. “Kwon Soonyoung! My third ‘Purple Pancake Challenge’ champion! Free pancakes on the house right?”

 _Soonyoung scarfed down the last pancake before the other contestant could begin eating her third one, and the crowd on your side cheered. You jumped up and down with glee, screaming out to the group, “That’s my friend! Dance extraordinaire_ and _pancake champion!”_

_After Jeonghan officially named Soonyoung the winner, and with a newly purple tongue, Soonyoung sprung from the booth and began dancing wildly. A few people joined him, hopping around in victory with your friend, and the rest of you looked on happily. For once, Soonyoung’s iron stomach came at an advantage._

Soonyoung grinned proudly, sitting down gracefully in one of the booths. “Yes. I would love free pancakes. With blueberries, please, if you have them.” Joshua smacked Soonyoung upside the head, but the grin never left Soonyoung’s face.

Jeonghan winked and started walking toward the backroom kitchen, but turned back to face you. “How did it go with that cute guy last night?” You looked behind you to Joshua or Mingyu, only to find Jeonghan waiting there. “You know! The cute guy you made out with before you all came in!” The sentence immediately wiped the glee from Soonyoung’s face, as it did to everyone else. Especially you.

The mere idea slammed a boulder into your chest, sinking you deep until there was no way you could speak. You tried, but nothing came up. Every breath sliced you like a knife to the throat, the tears ready to fall. “That’s not possible—she couldn’t have done that—she’s engaged!” Wonwoo raised your left hand for emphasis, only to realize once it was in the air that your ring was missing. He huffed, “She’s engaged, we swear.”

“Yeah, you guys said so a bunch of times. I just thought you were joking to get free food!”

The boys sympathetically looked your way, unsure what to say to help you feel better, but nothing would help. The fact you lost your own engagement ring and kissed someone that wasn’t Hansol made you want to run to a trashcan and dump all the vile contents out of your stomach. Instead, you sank into the booth seat across from Soonyoung and sobbed.

As you cried uncontrollably in Jeonghan’s restaurant, things became a lot worse than you had imagined.

* * *

The entire drive to your apartment, the only images replaying in your mind was Hansol’s proposal. He made a complete mess of it, burning your dinner and almost knocking you over when he kneeled down in front of you. Once you saw the ring and understood what he was asking you, the little slip-ups didn’t matter. You knew for every mistake after that, you two would laugh in the face of them and work through it all together. If only you understood then some problems couldn’t be fixed with those kinds of promises.

Mingyu stopped in front of your complex, the car deadly silent. Nobody spoke a word since you left Jeonghan’s, no sounds filling the quiet.

Nothing came to you after such a gut-wrenching revelation. You were certain the sick pit inside of you added to that, but you knew there was nothing about your bachelorette party left to warrant remembering. All you took away from the whole ordeal was the most insane part of the night being caused by you.

After another minute passed, Mingyu turned to you and took your left hand in his. “I know this completely sucks. And no jokes are gonna fix that. But Hansol loves you, mistakes or no mistakes. That’s why I know he’ll forgive you.”

The tears fell down your face, your eyes stinging and your heart resembling nothing but crumbled paper. “How do you know I’ll be able to forgive myself?”

“Because you know who you are, and you know how much you love him. And if he knows that too, then you both will survive this.” Even with the small space of the car, all of you joined in a group hug, the comfort of your friends giving you some strength to face what you had done.

Saying goodbye, you rode the elevator to your floor and opened the door to your apartment. Somehow sensing you finally arrived home, Hansol came out from the bedroom and smiled immediately. Glad to be home after the longest day you had experienced in a while, you realized his smiles had enough power to break your heart. Only when he saw your red eyes did his grin slowly fade. “What happened?”

You sniffled, wiping your eyes with the back of your hand. “You should see the other guys.”

When Hansol stepped closer to you, you backed away. With the guilt eating you inside out, you couldn’t look into eyes. “I don’t deserve you, Hansol.”

“What do you mean?” You sensed the concern etching the lines in his forehead and the pinch of his lips without having to see it, and you almost knew your own words were true.

“I did something horrible…two things, actually.” You brushed the hair away from your face, your tears spilling over and your voice growing hoarse when you lifted your head. “One, I lost my engagement ring,” you raised your left hand, “and two, I kissed some guy. And I don’t even remember who it was. I couldn’t remember anything when I woke up this morning, but that doesn’t excuse what I did. And I don’t deserve you, whether you forgive me or not.”

Hansol said nothing, only stepping closer and pressing his hands to either side of your neck, his thumb rubbing the hollow of your throat. What you didn’t expect was a soft kiss against your forehead and Hansol chuckling into your skin. “Well, then I guess it’s good that I remember.”

_Hansol read the neon sign “Jeonghan’s Delights” and closed the door to his car, stepping closer until he saw you teetering on Mingyu’s arm. You were smiling so widely, and then you turned to see Hansol, and he swore your grin could rip your cheeks as he walked closer._

_“Baby!” You ran to him, barely tripping on your own feet before he could catch you. “You came,” you giggled, happy to be in his arms. You rested your head on his chest, brushing the cotton of his sweatshirt. “Mingyu and I were just talking about you.”_

_“Oh really,” Hansol smirked.  
_

_“Yes, really really! I was talking about how handsome you are and how I missed you. Karaoke was boring without you. Promise you’ll come next time?” You frowned, touching his bottom lip with your index finger. His grin widened as he nodded his head.  
_

_“Anyway, what was so important that I had to come all the way down here?” He pretended to be serious, but the damn smile on his face gave him away._

_“I was looking at this earlier.” You took your engagement ring off your finger, the diamond glinting in the sign’s light. “And I had to tell you something right away! I love you.” Hansol released a laugh before you stood inches away from his lips. “I really, really love you.” The soft kiss almost had him buckling._

_Hansol sunk into the feeling of your mouth against his, the taste of strawberries on your tongue and the desire to hold you against him forever in his heart. Only when your ring fell onto the sidewalk did he pull away._

_“Hold on,” he laughed, picking it up and dusting it off. “I’m gonna hold onto this until tomorrow, okay?” You huffed and tried to steal back the ring, but he wouldn’t let it go._

_“But baby, I feel so bare without it,” you whined, your hands wrapped around his neck._

_“You have the rest of your life to wear it, I promise.” Hansol took your left hand and kissing your knuckles tenderly._

_“Pinky promise?”_

_“Pinky promise.”_

You stared at your engagement ring in your fiancé’s hand, stunned at how clear the memory was to you now. The square-cut diamond, the smaller diamonds inside the setting, the gold gleam of the ring, taken by Hansol for safe keeping. The tears against your cheeks were no longer sad ones, elation filling you to the brim. “We’ve been looking  _everywhere_ for this,” you cried happily.

“Well, now it’s back where it belongs.” Hansol slid the ring onto your finger, a part of your heart back in place. “Where it always belongs.” He wiped the final tears from your eyes before pressing his lips to your own. For the first time since last night, you were reminded why you never wanted to leave him. The tenderness of his touch, humor in his grins, and love in his eyes all told you why he was who you were meant to spend your forever with.

When you separated, you raised your right hand in the air, wrist up. “Also, I got a tattoo.”

Hansol laughed out loud, looking through the clear wrapping to see the black musical note etched into your skin. “I missed a lot last night, didn’t I?”

You smiled and kissed him again. “Loads.”

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted to my writing blog on tumblr (@chwepen if you'd like to find me there too ♡)!


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